Pet peeve of PMs, Gi-normous babies and Feeding NYC

A random collection from my head.

Published on June 17, 2004 By citygirl In Personal Relationships

So my pet peeve of being a project manager is that when you do your job well, you get little fanfare. When you screw up a job, it's like your name is plastered everywhere.

I was riding into work this morning, when I realized that every project I've given blood, sweat and tears on has been acknowledged but a week later, it's forgotten.
It's not until a year later when another project that ties into my previous project's outcomes is when people recall the amount of work I did to make it tranparent to the clients and departments.

Now, I know, you aren't supposed to toot your horn and you shouldn't work for recognition. But gosh darnit, when I see people who sit on their tushes and do a half ass job or even worse, get some lackey to do it and then take the credit, gets a letter of commendation from the dean, I get a bit peeved.

I try to tell myself, everyone gets what they deserve. Do your job for your satisfaction. But I can't help but wonder, what am I doing wrong to not get that pat on the back? Or am I harping on it too much? It's not like I don't get pats on the back. I do. And come on. Do I expect a pat every time I mention my project?

Part of it comes from working for someone that did what I just described above. I worked my fingers to the bone for her, and never a congratulations or good job. Then I'd find out that she said she did the research. So I've been protective of my work.

Ah, I'm over it now. I can reach my back. I'll pat it when my ego needs it.

Oh, my other cousin had a baby boy two days ago. In stark contrast to my cousin's baby girl who weighed in at 5 lbs 9 ounces. We have 8 lb, 21 inch long, full head of hair (plus goatee, says my cousin) baby boy. He stayed inside for almost 2 weeks before she had the c-section. Guess he was comfy. And in a week, the same cousin that had the boy is going to her eldest daughter's high school graduation. What a month for her!

Mom and my stepdad are coming over for dinner for Father's day. It's also his birthday. I'm not going crazy. Although, I'm contemplating trying to back a splenda cake. We'll see. I've kind of stopped planning well in advance.

I have started cooking lunches for both me and my hubby. I started a few weeks ago when I was home. That was a chore. Now, I like the idea. I figure, on average, we both spend $7/day on outside breakfasts and lunches. By cooking a yummy meal at home and making a few extra portions, I've got a great lunch while saving my dollars for a weekend treat.
Only problem I find is, I love beef and left over beef isn't my favorite. So I find myself cooking meat for dinner but a separate dish for lunch. Lunches are usually chicken, ground beef, pork or fish. Even pork isn't all that reheated.
I'm happy to report that I've only made one sandwich for my hubby in two weeks and I include a tiny snack or breakfast daily.

I even went a notch higher on the OCD scale by baking banana nut muffins for his co-workers one morning.

I swear sometimes, I'm out to feed the world, well at least the upper westside of manhattan.

Comments

Mr_Frog

on Jun 17, 2004

I try to tell myself, everyone gets what they deserve. Do your job for your satisfaction. But I can't help but wonder, what am I doing wrong to not get that pat on the back? Or am I harping on it too much?

You work in IT, don't you? That's the reason why you don't get recognition.

When it works good, no one notices. When it breaks, your head on a stake. I've worked in IT long enough to know that we all the (wo)men behind the curtain. I even had one of my former IT Directors say that "I want this department to be transparent." When I told him that I'd rather be recognized for my "30-hour stint without sleep when the e-mail server crashes", his reply was "Get over it."

This is one of the reasons why I want out of IT. Can't do it yet...want to buy a house and changing careers will hurt my chances of getting a loan. Sigh.

-- B

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